RSL Stadium Deal Passes

Only a week removed from talks of relocating the team, Real Salt Lake's stadium deal has won final approval this afternoon from the Utah House. The $110 million stadium, to be located in Sandy, makes RSL the ninth team in the league to have or have plans for a soccer-specific stadium, a component that the MLS sees as crucial for a team to become profitable. Only D.C., Houston, Kansas City and New England lack a SSS.
Last week, RSL owner Dave Checketts had threatened to sell the team to a group of St. Louis investors if a deal could not be reached. Now, St. Louis will have to look elsewhere for their team.

As part of the deal, RSL would also team up with Real Madrid in establishing an elite soccer academy, probably in the capital. There's no word yet if Fabio Capello plans to make a yearly trip to the academy to belittle the children, but I'm sure he couldn't refuse such an opportunity.

KC: Goodbye Arrowhead, Hello... Arrowhead?

So much for the K.C. Wizards having to play on a high school field this year. According to various reports, the team appears set to stay at Arrowhead Stadium, at least for 2007. Scheduled renovations were to leave the stadium unaccessible, but a delay in the design plans means the Wizards should be able to stay put at least for a year.

In the meantime, they should focus their efforts on getting a soccer-specific stadium site, as Arrowhead will likely be out of commission to the Wiz for the '08 season. More likely, they will be breaking ground on a new training facility in Swope Park. Hopefully they can get a stadium built, because we'd hate to see the training facility go empty when the Wizards move to St. Louis.

RSL To Stay In Utah?

Earlier this week, it was reported that Real Salt Lake's stadium deal with the city of Sandy, Utah, had fallen through - again. Now it appears that a deal to keep the team in Utah is "very likely" according to one source, with another saying that there will be a press conference on either Monday or Tuesday.

The deal - which has been on-again, off-again, for the past several months, has been given an injection of new life. Literally only days ago, hopes for progress on the issue were crushed by RSL owner Dave Checketts' statement that the deal was "dead" and he would be looking to sell the team by the end of the week. St. Louis has repeatedly been brought forth as a perfect setting for the RSL relocation - but those moving trucks aren't going anywhere, yet.

So, is it to be believed that a deal is finally in place? Who knows? Things could change again over the weekend, but for now, RSL stays in Utah. This is good news not only for the team, but for the MLS, who badly needed to get a deal done - somewhere - to avoid a PR disaster. Focus should now be placed on the upcoming season, which appears bright, especially after landing "superstar" Freddy Adu in the off-season.